Drake sudden death

[Waddlewoods]

Hey. Sadly I found my Welsh Harlequin drake dead in the coop this morning. He wasn't attacked. He was in a slumped over seated position.

I noticed he was a bit off yesterday - Slow to get out of the coop but then seemed fine just a bit moody which I figured may be from the fact that he was molting.

I'm concerned it may be something viral. He was separated with a female for breeding. They can still interact with the rest of my flock through the fence. Stupidly this morning when I found his bread I let the female out with the rest of the flock. I have since separated her again because I'm worried it's viral. She seems to be breathing fine, clear nares, clear eyes, foraging fine, poops fine. She does seem a bit agitated tough... Quacking a lot and fluffing up and shaking her tail.

Any ideas or suggestions of what to do or what could have possibly caused it would be great!

 

[Miss Lydia]

I am very sorry you lost your drake. We could make guesses but a necropsy would be the only thing that would give conclusive results and give peace of mind.

 

[ruthhope]

So sorry for your loss -- I know how it hurts when one of our ducks passes [I had a drake pass in October 2023.]

Your hen may well be agitated because of the loss of her mate. Can you keep her where she can see but not touch the other ducks? I have used hardware cloth on the side of a dog crate and inside a dog pen to ensure ducks in quarantine cannot touch my others. Keeping her used bedding and poop away from your other ducks is important and viruses and bacteria can stay in duck pool.

 

[Waddlewoods]

So sorry for your loss -- I know how it hurts when one of our ducks passes [I had a drake pass in October 2023.]

Your hen may well be agitated because of the loss of her mate. Can you keep her where she can see but not touch the other ducks? I have used hardware cloth on the side of a dog crate and inside a dog pen to ensure ducks in quarantine cannot touch my others. Keeping her used bedding and poop away from your other ducks is important and viruses and bacteria can stay in duck pool.

Ya so I have her in a separate run and coop by herself. It's just chicken wire though so they can still touch a bit but they don't often bother. When I let her out my drake did mount her. I hope that wasn't enough to spread it if she's got a virus.

She hung around the pool all day while the other ducks were off at the watering hole. So I cleaned the pool and all the water buckets and feed bowls and put her back into the run. The rest of my flock don't have access to her bedding.

She is acting a bit strange. Opening her mouth alot and shaking her tail. Not sure if that's due to stress from her mate dying or if it's a problem. There are no avian vets around here and I won't be doing a necropsy.